Washington DC - The Republicans say that the federal and state governments spend too much of taxpayers’ money on programs that are costly and wasteful. A smaller government could increase people’s income and help to reduce the national deficit.

Try to imagine what a smaller federal government would look like: fewer cops on the beat; a big reduction in the delivery of mail; the firing of thousands of teachers; fewer doctors and nurses in our hospitals; a shortage of buses and subway trains; difficulties for air travelers ; a disrupted judicial system and a decaying, neglected national infrastructure.

It’s the government, not private industry, that provides the millions of jobs that are needed. Who would pay these working individuals? Not private industry; It could neither fund nor administer a national work force. Only a well-run government with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue from the taxes of its citizens could provide us with the services and comforts that Americans receive and take for granted.

And what about national defense and homeland security? Would a smaller government short-change these essential services and leave our country open to attack with nuclear bombs? Should we accept a down-sized military, leaving us prey to attacks from terrorist organizations?

How could our society endure if we didn’t have police, teachers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, truck drivers, construction workers, airplane pilots, judges, farmers and workers in hundreds of different, but necessary, jobs, created by our government and paid for by taxpayers, not by a shrunken government and underfunded state governments?

If the government’s social role were reduced by deep cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, what would happen to millions of the poor, sick and elderly who depend on government programs for survival?

If Republicans are so insistent on living with a smaller government, let them supply us with a blueprint of how such a government would function.

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It is ironic that the same people who want to put guns into schools are supported by those who choose to pull a "Thelma and Louise" and go racing over the fiscal cliff. Most people want to resolve these two issues immediately. While others on the right want to reflect and avoid the debate until later. We have been waiting for "until later" for a long time on policies that have severe consequences for the populace.